STRATEGY GUIDE

INTRO
Like all hardcore 2D shooters, DoDonPachi Resurrection Deluxe can be played for
survival. That means nothing more than dodging bullets, shooting down enemies
and lasting for as long as you can without dying, and its a lot of fun.
However, to get the most out of their experience of DoDonPachi Resurrection
Deluxe, dedicated shooter fans play for score. In other words, they take advantage
of numerous scoring mechanics to milk points from the game. A good scoring
player wont just enjoy a shooter more; theyll be rewarded with extra lives that
makes completing the game easier, and dominate the leaderboards that define
what it means to get the most from a shmup.
In just one level a good scoring player may get ten times the score that a survival
player gets from the entire game.

THE BASICS:
GETTING THE MOST FROM THE GAME
The most important thing to do when playing for score is to only use one credit
per game. That means, when you get to the Game Over screen, its game over. No
continues; just start again.
In all competitions and most leaderboards, scores submitted that use more than
one credit are disallowed, and credit feeding playing using numerous credits is
frowned upon in arcades across the globe. To chase a one credit clear (or 1CC) is what
makes playing a 2D shooter meaningful and rewarding. To credit feed is to miss the
point of 2D shooters altogether.

ONE MORE IMPORTANT DETAIL

This guide refers to the 1.5 version of the game included on the DoDonPachi
Resurrection Deluxe disc. 1.5 is the main game mode. The other version of the game
(called arranges by arcade fans) have very different scoring mechanics.
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THE BASICS: SCORING

Scoring in DoDonPachi Resurrection Deluxe 1.5 is based on a technique called
chaining. In essence, chaining means killing lots of enemies in quick succession.
Each time you kill an enemy, a timer starts, displayed by a small countdown bar (the
Combo Gauge) that reduces with time. Kill another enemy before the time runs out,
and the Combo Gauge fills again, and one hit is added to your chain. The higher the
chain, the more points you can get from each kill. Chains of many thousands lasting
whole levels can be achieved, rewarding the player with enormous scores.
In Dodonpachi Resurrection Deluxe, youll want to use your two main attacks: Shot
and Laser (see THE WEAPONS below), in turn to maintain your chain for as long as
possible. Take out weak, smaller enemies with Shot, and stronger mid-sized enemies
with Laser. Chains can also be maintained by holding your Laser on enemies that
take longer to be killed.
Destroying multiple enemies at once will cause your combo gauge to decrease slower
than killing those enemies one at a time.
However, clearing a screen of enemies too quickly leaving you with nothing to kill to
maintain your chain with is the most common way of dropping a chain. Dodonpachi
Resurrection demands that you to not only survive its bullet patterns and enemy
attacks, but also take your time while youre doing it, and chain in a methodical
manner. Keep in mind that using bombs and dying also breaks chains.
Chains can also be held by collecting airborne star point items (simple point bonuses),
picking up bee items (point bonuses hidden on the ground), and activating a Hyper.

THE WEAPONS
Whichever ship and 1.5 game mode you choose, you are generally given the same
basic weapons:
Shot Tap the button to fire a wider, less powerful spread of bullets (Shot). Hold
the button to fire a narrow, very powerful laser (Laser). Using Laser also slows your
ships speed down, giving you more speed and less agility
Bomb Tapping bomb once unleashes a powerful bomb that clears enemies and
enemy bullets, giving you a chance to get out of tight spots
Autofire Holding down the Autofire button simulates tapping the Shot button
Hyper Tapping this button activates Hyper mode. See below for more details
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HYPERS
Shooting down enemies, using certain weapons and various other factors all gradually
fill the Hyper Meter. Each time the Meter is filled, the player is granted a Hyper
power-up. When the player has a Hyper in stock, pressing the Hyper button activates
Hyper mode. Hyper mode lasts just a short time, and gives the players weapons
immensely increased power, and the ability to cancel (destroy) enemy bullets. When
activating your Hyper, you will be invulnerable for a very brief amount of time.
Using Hyper will make chains climb at a very fast rate. However, using a hyper also
immediately speeds up the movement enemies bullet patterns.
Keep in mind that the score multiplier based on your chain level only has an effect
when your Hyper Meter is full, and when you are not using your Hyper. So youll have
to learn to not depend on it if you want to score well.
The following details how much of a score multiplier takes effect (when you Hyper
Meter is full) dependent on the level of your chain:
Chain

Score Multiplier

0-499

x1

500-999

x2

1000-2999

x3

3000-4999

x4

5000-6999

x5

7000-9999

x6

10000+

x7

Using Hypers effects something called Hyper Rank. Essentially, for every Hyper
used, the games difficulty (or rank) climbs. As Hyper Rank raises, bullet cancellation
ability depletes, enemies bullet speed increases, more enemy lasers appear, and a
number of other subtle factors change that effect high-level play (for example in the
second loop; a harder version of the game you can enter on any credit where you
complete the normal version of the game meeting certain criteria).
Hyper rank resets at the start of each level until you destroy the final boss of the first
loop. In the second loop of which there are two variants hyper rank does not reset,
and decreases at a much slower rate.
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THE MODES
When you start a game of DoDonPachi Resurrection Deluxe 1.5 (1.0 being the original
arcade release), you are given the choice between three play styles. Each is significantly
different, so choosing the right one for you is important. The styles are as follows:
Strong Style:
Strong style is, relatively speaking, the easiest mode to complete, and perfect for
beginners looking to secure their first 1CC.
Strong style grants the player an auto-bomb that detonates automatically if the
players ship is about to be destroyed. It is less powerful than a manually released
bomb, but game saving at times.

THE SHIPS
Choosing the correct ship in DodonPachi Resurrection Deluxe is essential. Each ship
has advantages and disadvantages, making each suited to a different type of play.
The three ships are as follows:

TYPE-A

Do-NX-SF-25B DELTASWORD

Struggle Fighter

Type-A has a slightly more powerful Shot

and Laser, but the Shot itself is very narrow.

The players base weapons are very powerful, and while using your hyper, clear the
screen of bullets so fast it is easier to drop chains

It is the fastest and most agile of all the ships.

Bomb Style:

Tough for beginners to play with, Type A is denitely oriented towards experts.

Chains rise more quickly when bullet cancelling than with the other ships.

Like Strong style, Bomb style features an auto-bomb

Players must touch their ships glowing aura against enemies to ll their Hyper
Meter faster. Failure to regularly fill the Hyper Meter will make it harder to achieve
high chains.
The base weapon power in Bomb Style is weaker than in Strong Style, so it is a little
harder to clear the screen of enemies quickly, and thus a little easier to maintain
chains.
Power Style
Power Style lives up to its name in terms of sheer repower. In this Style, the player
can quickly switch between two Shot types: normal and boost. Boost is far more
powerful than normal, and, if the player is in Hyper mode, bullets cancelled by the
Boost Shot fill up the players Hyper Meter. This means it is easier to build and use
Hypers, but to build a long chain youll have to switch into the Normal Shot and
cancel bullets to up your chain count.
However, the more Hypers used the shorter each Hyper lasts, meaning dropping
chains is easier.
Using the weaker normal Shot is essential for sections when the player needs to
avoid clearing the screen too fast.

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TYPE-B
TYPE-

Do-NX-AH-16B BIAXE

Assault Helicopter
Ship weapon power and agility are both medium.
Learning controlled chaining is relatively easy.
Ship movement left and right effects the direction some of your repower goes; great for
getting out of tight spots, but can lead to more chain dropping.

TYPE-C
TYPE-

Do-NX-FB-72D SPEARHEAD

Fighting Bomber

Type Cs consistent and wide Shot makes

chaining easier, and clears enemies across the
width of the screen more readily than with other ship types.
The ship is the slowest, offering more control but less ability to escape tricky situations
Type C offers the slowest chain increase when used for bullet cancelling.

OTHER TIPS
Nothing is more important to scoring than chaining, so try to prioritise using Hypers
only at the beginning of a stage. The reason this leads to a good score is that the Hyper
Meter must be full for your chain score multiplier (the thing that increases the score for
each kill you make based on how high your chain is) to take effect. So, using Hyper at the
beginning of a stage makes the chain counter climb very high; then playing from that
point on without using Hypers means the Hyper Meter stays full, meaning in turn that
you cash in score from your chain.
There is general consensus that using the Type-B or Type-C ship for Strong style is the
best way to get a first 1CC.
As you go through the game you will have to push back enemy lasers with your own
ships Laser. What you might not immediately notice is that when youre using your Hyper,
cancelling another with your own will give a massive boost to your chain. Good players
will use the Hyper Laser cancelling technique in Stage 3 and 4 to earn over 3,000 hits in
only several seconds and send their score into the stratosphere.
Throughout the game enemies leave star shaped items which can be picked up in
return for immediately granted points. The larger the star the more points. Destroying
enemies that fire lasers with your own Laser will give you more large stars. At the end of
each stage, all of the stars you collected since you last died are totalled up for an extra
score bonus.
Certain points on the ground can be destroyed to reveal bee icons. These bees constantly
switch colours, between gold and green, and sometimes white. For a boost to your
Hyper Meter, pick up the bees when they are green. For a score boost, pick up the bees
when they are gold. White bees grant points and fill Hyper Meter. A bonus is given if you
collect every bee in a level Collecting lots of bees can open up other extra elements of
the game.
Extends (extra lives) are granted at 1,000,000,000 and 10,000,000,000 points. A good
run will earn you the first extend on Stage 1 and the second extend on Stage 2.
There are many other secrets, such as new sections of levels, second loops (where on
finishing the game you start again with the difficulty ramped up) and a hidden extra life
in stage 3. Experiment to find out what you can unlock.

CREDITS
This guide was written by spadgy of the Shmups.com forum. It could not have happened
without the hard work and effort of Adverse from the Cave-STG forum.
Thanks also go out to Dan76, CHI, hzt, JDE for their input, and the rest of the Casino Crew
arcade team from Casino Arcade, London, UK.

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